Consumers and taxpayers could face higher costs from new workplace laws rushed through Federal Parliament yesterday.
The Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No 1) Bill 2026 allows the Federal Government to deny businesses access to Government procurement because they have not signed up to union agreements.
The changes will apply across a wide range of sectors including construction, health and community services, and were pushed through Parliament with no inquiry and just two days of debate.
CCIWA Chief Executive, Will Golsby, said the new laws will drive up costs for businesses and consumers alike.
“These laws arrive at a time when productivity is crashing and costs are spiralling,” he said.
“It’s inevitable that these changes will make service delivery and major projects more expensive.
“It tips the scales dramatically and does nothing to improve Australia’s lagging productivity and high-cost business environment.”
Mr Golsby said similar state-based schemes have led to cost blow-outs.
“Victoria and Queensland have both seen costs for major public projects increase in costs,” he said.
Mr Golsby said these reforms, along with sweeping workplace relations changes over the past two years, will impact Australia’s reputation as a safe place to invest.
“This is particularly damaging for WA, where our economy is driven by major private sector investment to deliver big projects now and into the future, including the energy transition to reach net zero by 2050,” he said.
“We are in a competition with the rest of the world for global capital and the raft of federal workplace reforms introduced in recent years will make it harder for WA to attract that investment.
“Business investment requires long term certainty and clarity. These reforms place additional risks of more disruption to vital projects like we’re potentially seeing in the Pilbara, where the mining industry is facing its first strikes this century.”
